Polozov: ‘February 26’ case is deliberately delayed

The reason for delaying the case - an order from above, but not the initiative of self-proclaimed Crimean authorities.

KYIV (QHA) -

The case of "February 26" is deliberately delayed until summer when the public interest in all high-profile cases abates, said Nikolai Polozov, lawyer of Ahtem Chiygoz, as cited by "Ukrinform."

- Familiarization with reworked “February 26" case papers showed that almost nothing has been changed. Lost labor. It is unclear why this case was returned. Obviously, this is not a local initiative, but an order from above. I have only one assumption. The trial is deliberately delayed until summer when the public interest in all high-profile cases abates, said Polozov.

According to him, the changes have been very insignificant that shows there were no real reasons to return the case.

- My worst forebodings have not been justified: our defendants have not been accused of anything new. Although the charge under Section 212 Part 1 (organization of mass disorders) is presented within the amended Act as of 1996 "serious crimes," it has not been reclassified as "very serious crimes". On the other hand, I wrote about this possibility in order to prevent such a scenario, said the lawyer.

On Tuesday, Nikolai Polozov is to meet with Nadiya Savchenko in Novocherkassk prison. On Thursday, he plans to return to the city of Simferopol and continue his work on the case of "February 26."

As QHA reported earlier, April 6, the Simferopol Appellate Court held a regular hearing into a defense complaint against the ruling by judge Galina Redko as of 02/03/16, under which she arbitrarily and extrajudicially extended the detention of the defendants in the so-called case "February 26." However, the defendants were not brought the courtroom. On Saturday, the accused and their lawyers have started familiarizing with the "February 26" case materials.